Reindeer are Better than People
by SpicedGold
Summary: Kristoff had always liked reindeer more. It was no surprise, considering what he had experienced with people. This is my interpretation of Kristoff's song with Sven. One-shot.


**So, I was still feeling sad and then this idea came to me. All this melancholy is making for some excellent writing. This is my interpretation of Kristoff's song.**

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><p>Reindeers are Better than People<p>

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><p><em>Reindeers are better than people<em>

He watched them in the forest, nuzzling each other gently. Sharing food. Keeping the young ones safe from harm. He watched the females tenderly raise their young. He watched the males defend their herds from predators, lead them to water and food and shelter.

They were gentle and loving. They didn't try to hurt each other.

Everything he saw in them, he did not see in the people around him.

_Sven, don't you think that's true?_

He was too young to be in the bar, but he went where he was told. If he didn't . . .

He huddled in the corner, knees to his chest, surrounded by brash people. He wanted to be outside, where several reindeers stood tied and waiting. It was freezing out there, but he would have preferred it.

They were loud, crude. They punched each other, spilt drinks. They guffawed over the misfortune of others. They ignored him at best and, at worst . . .

When they reached towards their reindeer, the animals flinched.

So did he.

_Yeah, people they'll beat you-_

He nursed a black eye, with an arm marred by an angry, hand shaped welt. He stayed outside, in the freezing cold, because if he went inside . . . He eye was throbbing, the bruises on his limbs were fresh and visible.

He watched the reindeer herd, and the fathers he could see there never, ever attacked their own young.

_And curse you-_

He shook, pure terror wracking his tiny frame, as the words flew around him. Rooted to the spot, so aware of the fact that everything hurt, everything physical and everything that wasn't physical.

"Stupid, _stupid_ boy! I wish you had never been born! You're a useless little-"

The reindeers didn't shout at each other. They didn't snarl angry words. They didn't corner their calves and scream and swear and raise their hands . . .

He spent the night shivering, the words swimming around his head.

_And cheat you-_

"If you do everything I say, you can have a real supper tonight. _If_ you do everything I say."

He did. He always did.

Now he was watching the reindeer herd, and his stomach was growling, and his eyes were overflowing.

The adults plucked leaves from the high branches above their heads, and passed them down to the clamouring calves. Each one got fed its fill, not one of them had the food snatched away from them when they reached towards it.

_Every one of them's bad_

The reindeer herd tried to run, the whole lot of them fled from danger, crashing through the undergrowth in a thundering stampede. One female fell behind; the calf at her side was too tiny to keep up. The little calf stumbled, the cow paused, and the arrow sunk into her side.

There were hearty laughs all round, celebrations and joshing amongst the men. They joked and prodded at her, mocking the calf's desperate cries.

He stayed hidden in the bushes, hands over his mouth, and watched the calf try to suckle a dead mother.

_Except you._

The dead reindeer cow was flung onto the sled, and hauled away. The calf was left behind, nosing at the blood, crying.

He waited until he was certain no one would come back, then he ran to the calf. It didn't protest, it burrowed into his warm grip. It was hard to tell who was holding up whom.

"Hey, buddy."

The calf looked up at him, he seemed to smile. _Hi._

"I've got carrots." _It's all I've got, but I'll share it with you._

The calf's crying stopped.

_But people smell better than reindeers_

He slept with the calf every night, no longer in the house. The shouting increased.

"Get out of my house, you filthy, useless child! Don't bring that vermin in here!" More swearing, more raised fists.

The calf licked his wounds, offered a shoulder to cry on.

Other kids moved away, wrinkling their noses. He was already an outcast, now he was ostracised more.

"Don't go near him, the smell will rub off on you and you'll never smell normal again."

He stayed away from them. It wasn't hard.

_Sven, don't you think I'm right?_

The calf licked his face, and all he could smell was reindeer breath. It made him grin.

The smells were backwards, he thought. People should be the ones who smelled bad, because they were bad. He kept an arm over his friend's back; they traipsed across the ice together.

The calf agreed with everything he said, smiling at him and nodding, and it made him feel better to know that someone was listening.

_That's once again true, for all except you_

He didn't mind. Reindeers were better than people, anyway. He smelled like a reindeer, which meant he must be one. He wasn't a person; he wasn't a terrible, monstrous creature.

He liked the smell.

It was safety, and comfort. It was friendship. It was who he was.

_You got me_

He ruffled the calf's fur, then he ran to hide. Sven found him, no matter where he was. He was pinned down and licked until he laughed for mercy. "You got me, you got me! I can't breathe!"

His laughter drowned out more protests, the calf was laughing with him.

They were inseparable.

The reindeer had his heart and soul.

_Let's call it a night_

He didn't look back. He trudged away from home with his thoughts and focus facing forwards. The calf at his side didn't look back either.

They were going to leave that life behind. They were going to turn their backs on it and slam the door. Everything started new, from now on.

They moved towards the rising sun.

_Good night_

"Good night, Sven." He watched the stars, hands behind his head, smiling openly.

_Good night_, he heard a voice whisper, his lips moving softly in time with the words. He grinned, because now he had company.

Safe company, that would never leave him or hurt him.

He slept soundly, without any fear.

_Don't let the frostbite bite._

The calf's hide was thick and warm. He snuggled into it, gloved hands gripping fistfuls of hair. A rough tongue licked his head, mussing his blonde hair. There was snow all around them, blanketing them, but his heart was warm.

He had never felt safer than he did now, with Sven at his side. They could face this world together.

They warmed each other; the cold couldn't reach between them.

**Thanks for reading, I'll go back to writing Opening the Doors now.**

**SpicedGold**


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